Preaching in Miller Chapel
October 11, 2007
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I’m still asking myself why I wanted to do this? But I signed up, and I even got one of the coveted Friday slots for preaching in Miller Chapel. Fridays are Communion Days and very popular - and I got one: Friday, December 14. On December 14, I will be preaching in Miller Chapel - come one and come all. Seriously, I think it will be interesting. Of course, there is the question of what text to preach, what prayers to pray, etc. At the beginning of the school year, there was a meeting for those leading worship in Chapel and we were given the “template” for the worship time that we were to follow. They say that they will give us a lot of flexibility, but that is *somewhat* different from what I’ve heard from other students in the past. Who knows - maybe it’s different now?
Leading Chapel worship is very different at Columbia Seminary - at Columbia, you put together a “Chapel Team” of 3-5 senior students, and a faculty advisor. That Chapel Team is then responsible for the chapels during an entire week. While it seems like a lot more work (and it probably is) - it’s a wonderful chance to experience an amazing amount of diversity in worship. Last year, there were dueling preachers, liturgical dance, creative music and media presentations, and a host of other diverse worship styles and contributions. It just seems to help add creativity and a more organic feel to worship - worship by the people for the people.
Then compare that to the experience at Princeton. A group meeting where they give us a template? Then, we have to have a meeting with the chaplain and the music director to run through everything and make sure it all “fits” and is appropriate. Perhaps I’m just skeptical because of past experiences with the Chapel that I’ve heard second-hand. One other thing I find very interesting is President Torrance’s desire for the Chapel worship to be “domestic worship” - what he means is that anyone participating in the worship has to be a part of the Princeton Theological Seminary community. It was explained to us because of an issue with people asking certain friends/mentors/pastors from outside the community to preside over communion. They said, “It’s great that you might have a special relationship with that person - but no one else does, so…” Interesting…domestic worship…
Has anyone else preached in Miller Chapel? How was your experience? Did you feel that you had freedom to be creative? Or was it more of a cookie-cutter worship experience? Any ideas/suggestions for ways for me to ’stir things up a bit’ during my worship time?
Tags: Miller-Chapel, Preaching, Princeton-Theological-Seminary, Sermons
Posted in General
Adam Walker Cleaveland: I am a 28 yr old 
October 11th, 2007 at 8:55 am
I’d probably say that over my time at PTS, Friday communion worship was more “straightforward” that, say, worship on a Wednesday, which is more of a word/prayer service and doesn’t involve preaching.
When I preached on a Friday, I threw that day’s congregation for a loop by doing an all-out Lutheran liturgical service (I love my Lutheranness….can you tell?). In terms of having to meet with the chaplain and music director, for me it was much more of a helpful venture than an “oversight” or “management” thing. Their attitude was to be as helpful to me as possible in finding music if I needed help doing that, organizing the liturgy, organizing people, etc. So I would hope that you’d find the same attitude from them.
As far as the “domestic” worship goes…It was the same when I was there. I think that it’s a useful concept insofar as making sure that worship doesn’t become just about the person organizing it and their concerns/desires/friendships/etc. I think that it’s useful to envision planning worship on behalf of the community of which you are a part. I also think that there was a particular alumni during my generation who EVERYONE would have asked to sing at their service if they didn’t have this guideline in place. It does make sense that they’d want worship to be reflective of the current community. At the same time, It would be nice to have some flexibility for bringing alumni or family or people like that into the worship.
You’re still allowed to have someone from the outside preside if you need to, though, right? (I ended up having my field ed. supervisor preside.)
I don’t think that any of this was ACTUALLY helpful, except to share that things haven’t changed a whole lot in the past couple years. :)
October 11th, 2007 at 8:59 am
@Melissa, thanks for your thoughts. And as to having some preside - it’s got to be someone from within the seminary - perhaps that’s the newest interpretation of what Torrance means by “domestic worship.”
October 11th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Hey Adam,
Have fun! I preached in Miller Chapel in 1992, my senior year. We didn’t have communion, though. I thought it was a great experience. I remember at the time there was an incident in the larger community regarding race relations and I preached about that. Michael Livingston was the chaplain then and he let me run the worship service as I wanted. Don’t know what the situation is now.
As I recall, when students led worship, they did many creative things. Hope that hasn’t changed.
Blessings,
john
October 11th, 2007 at 9:47 am
@John - I’d be interested in knowing what you mean when you said they did many “creative things”?
October 11th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
When I was in seminary (obviously not PTS) the Chapel preaching duties were “invitation only”. Usually big-wig preachers from the community or faculty from Brite. They did, however, choose 4-5 graduating seniors to preach during the semester. As my final semester began I prayed (not literally) that I’d be chosen-convinced that not being chosen said something negative about my preaching abilities. Then I got the letter from our beloved Homiletics professor. I was chosen. Suddenly…I didn’t want to do it! I wanted to be asked…I just didn’t want to step up to the plate. I did, Brite survived and that was 7.5 years ago. All’s well that ends well.
God bless you on this journey!
October 11th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Hey Adam,
Well, things may have changed and what was creative in the old days is ho hum now. A couple of memorable student services include one in which the preacher challenged us to take seriously the letter to James and brought in a bunch of homeless men who sat in the congregation and told (briefly) about their situation. The preacher used refrains from James in response to their stories.
People often had a variety of musical instruments, dance, prayers from feminist resources and so forth.
These were the days before powerpoint, but I do recall some visual aids of images on a screen to illustrate a sermon. A long time ago, my memory a bit foggy.
What are you thinking of doing?
October 11th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
will this message be available online?
October 11th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
@John - sounds like there was more creativity back then…
@Jeremy - depends on if it’s good or not :) But yes, most likely, I’ll be putting it here on the website.
October 11th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
hey bro. i would say don’t hesitate to dream big, and then let the “advisement” reign you in a bit. i don’t know if you were at my chapel service - but i did a wednesday non-sermon day…and ended up having a 7-minute extended silence time. it was definitely pushing the comfort envelope with folks, but i got a lot of good feedback after. a friday service might be a little more challenging, but you know how to take the reformed “template” and be creative with it - so go for it.
October 12th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Adam:
I am not sure I would equate powerpoint or screen presentations with creativity “back then.” The lighting in Miller at 10am would not be ideal, nor is that really the right environment.
I was able to preach last year, and was thinking about how I could be creative and push the bounds (i.e. not preach in the pulpit–egad). But then I thought about my context and realized the people I would be preaching to are not interested in seeing my creativity but engaging Jesus Christ. So why push the envelope just to make my point, instead I realized I should honor the space and the opportunity to preach to this particular community.
Also, having been at different chapel services at Miller chapel–and this is personal plea from a personal experience I had my last week at PTSOne Final Lesson–please remember that people are coming to hear the good news not to hear our agendas.
I know the “why did I sign up for this” will continue to echo in your head, especially after you meet with them one-on-one. But have confidence that God has called you to preach a message to the community. Good luck, and I look forward to hearing the mp3.
Peace and Blessings,
Wes
PS-sorry for the soapboxing, I just thought I would share my experience and perspective.
October 13th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I had a Monday slot back in the day. It was the first week of Advent, so I was able to include some aspects of the liturgical season and used that week’s lectionary text. However, the reading of the word was done as a litany. I had asked folks from the Seminary community to serve as “readers” and they did so from the congregation. It allowed all of us to hear the passage anew. Music was pretty simple…a few taize pieces from the Green Sing! and a great hymn on based on Isaiah 40 from my denominations hymnal.
I echo other’s advise. Keep the focus on worship for the PTS context. The meeting is meant to be advisory. I came in with my ideas, and actually got a few more liturgy tips from the planning session. There are tons of resources and options, I think that most seniors end up playing it safe.
Also, worship in a congregation is more often than not a group process. I hope this experience is one where you can express yourself, but also be open to the process and context. Can’t wait to read about the worship.
October 15th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Hi Adam,
I never preached in Miller. This was because I rarely went to chapel. I enjoyed it immensely when I went, but as a westerner, former mennonite/fundy, I struggled with some of the confinements with the place. I always enjoyed when someone gave a genuine message and came to realize that it was not a place that assisted preachers in doing that. I would have been very nervous to preach to my skeptical friends and professors. I did see some people remain genuine and preach in their own skin, not a performance or an opportunity to challenge something and use the pulpit to exercise their voice as a platform.
So, be yourself and God will multiply it. All the creativity and skills you have will be used to bless God’s work going on at PTS. I will pray that you will be sensitive to what that work is and where that work is happening so that you will be able to speak of it as a witness.
Blessings,
David
October 16th, 2007 at 12:24 am
I preached a Friday communion service in Miller Chapel. While we had a different chaplain then, we had the same music director. My experience was much like Melissa’s - they were very helpful in the planning process. The Friday service was a template, so there wasn’t much flexibility in elements or order of service - in fact, I didn’t even write the prayers of the people because the Great Prayer was always used for the communion service.
The week I preached in chapel I had much the same refrain echoing in my head - “what the heck was I thinking when I signed up for this months ago?” Yet, the moment I stood in the pulpit and looked out into the congregation, I saw not profs, staff, deans, or other students judging my preaching competence, but brothers and sisters in Christ. And it is so powerful to serve classmates and faculty communion.
I pray that your experience will be a blessing!
December 8th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
I would love to experience something congregationally kinetic at PTS. The space is hardly conducive to it, but that’s something I’ve never experienced here, aside from one time when the music was so stellar that everyone was dancing … and that one time Dr. Taylor preached and a couple of people walked out … but you’ve already thought of taking that approach. Good luck. The Spirit will strike you (hopefully not down). Peace.